Manufacturers of mobile devices, such as cellular phones, may obtain components of the mobile devices from various sources, including different manufacturers. For example, the application processor in a cellular phone may be obtained from a first manufacturer, while the display for the cellular phone may be obtained from a second manufacturer. Moreover, multiple standards are defined for interconnecting certain components of the mobile devices. For example, there are multiple types of interface defined for communication between an application processor and a display or camera within mobile device, including the Display System Interface (DSI) standard specified by the Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) Alliance.
The MIPI Alliance has defined the “C-PHY” standard, which provides high-speed data communication over a trio of wires. In some interfaces, including display and camera multiple trios may provide a high bandwidth, multi-channel interface. The C-PHY interface typically can involve complex circuits to support high-speed operation. In some instances, it may be desirable to provide a low-speed communication link, for which the C-PHY interface may be considered overly complex and costly for some applications.